India and 21 other countries adopted an agreement at ameliorating communication at sea to cut down the possibility of conflict amid developing friction between a progressively assertive China and its neighbours. Naval chiefs of these nations participated at the biennial conference of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) held at Qingdao, China. Rear Admiral S N Ghormade, represented Indian Navy at the meet.

The member nations adopted an agreement for:

Preventing miscommunication amongst naval vessels that could lead to enmities in the Pacific Ocean.

How naval ships should communicate and manoeuvre when they accidentally come into contact in sea lanes surrounding China, Japan and Southeast Asia

[icon name=”icon-info-sign”]Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS)

Established in 1987 with objective to encourage cooperation amongst the navies of its member nations, fortify mutual understanding and trust, and collectively safeguard regional maritime security. WPNS constitutes navies whose nations border the Pacific Ocean region.

The WPNS has 21 member states:

Australia

Brunei

Cambodia

Canada

Chile

China

France

Indonesia

Japan

Malaysia

New Zealand

Papua New Guinea

Peru

Philippines

Republic of Korea

Russia

Singapore

Thailand

Tonga

US

Vietnam

India is an observer at WPNS and China is one of the WPNS’ founding members.